Franklin County, News, Phil Campbell, Red Bay, Russellville
 By  Alison James Published 
9:24 am Wednesday, March 16, 2016

Grimes sets record straight

Since the Russellville City Schools Board of Education announced its new attendance policy two weeks ago – no more bus routes for out-of-district students, and a tuition fee for all out-of-district students below rising eighth grade – reactions have been mixed.

Reactions have also been well-voiced, with people taking the conversation to their neighbors, to social media, and even to places like www.change.org, where a petition urges, “Help Amend the Russellville City Schools Tuition Policy.”

RCS Superintendent Heath Grimes say while feedback has been overwhelming positive – particularly from in-district students’ families – there have certainly been criticisms leveled at the school system.

What makes those frustrating for the board is knowing that most of the accusations they’re facing are based on misunderstandings or misconceptions about the new policy and its implementation.

Grimes answered a few of the most-widely-spread criticisms currently in the conversation:

Misconception 1: RCS is going to turn down a large number of out-of-district students, regardless, because they have a maximum limit of students they are willing to accept.

“We would love to have all the students,” Grimes said. He said RCS is willing to admit any and every out-of-district student who can meet transportation and tuition requirements – even if that ultimately means overcrowding is still an issue and the system has to begin a building project.

Misconception 2: If my out-of-district student is admitted to RCS this year, the system still might not accept them for future school years, and then they’ll have to switch schools in the middle of their educational careers. They risk not being accepted every year.

Grimes said RCS has no intent to not accept students for future years after admitting them currently. Barring an extreme – that is, severely egregious – discipline or academic problem, students who desire to enroll out-of-district and can provide transportation and pay the tuition will be welcomed back – year after year. “The goal is not to get anybody started and then have to change schools,” Grimes said. “Once they are accepted out of district, unless they do something terrible, they are going to be here.”

Misconception 3: The school system will go up on the tuition rate, making it more unaffordable as years go by.

“There is not going to be an increase,” Grimes said. “You can’t ‘promise’ things like that because you can’t promise the future, but our board wanted to make sure whatever we established was something that could be sustainable and would not be something we would have to change in a couple years … We do not intend to go up; it’s not going to go up; and even if it did, the commitment we have made is that we would honor the current price throughout the rest of a student’s school years,” – that is, a raise in tuition would go into effect for rising kindergarteners but not any current students.

Misconception 4: The school system will probably make exceptions for some students, like student-athletes.

“Our board made it very clear to me that this was a policy they supported but it had to be with no exceptions,” Grimes said. “This is a policy. Policy is there for a reason. There just are no exceptions. We’re very firm in that. We want to make sure that is the case, so it’s fair for everyone.” Not an exception, but written into the policy, is that students of full-time RCS employees who live out of district will be exempt from tuition.

Misconception 5: The school system didn’t even ask input from anyone before approving the policy – not parents, not administrators, not business owners.

“While we didn’t have community meetings, we did seek input from all of those groups,” Grimes said. “Administrators, teachers, business owners – business owners came to us. This has been something people in the city have approached us about, doing things proactively to improve our city.” Grimes said the policy had widespread support long before it was approved. It also was not planned or approved in secret. “This has been talked about for years,” Grimes said. “At the work session, our UniServ director was here. I went through all the policies … Everything was done above-board.” Grimes said he also conferred with the local AEA rep. And even beyond that, people would often bring up planned attendance policy changes when he was out in the community. “It was a terrible-kept ‘secret’ – and that was done on purpose,” Grimes said.

Overall, “We’ve made the decision we all feel is best,” said Grimes, voicing the view of the RCS Board of Education. “We don’t feel bad about that.”

Editor’s note: Do you have thoughts, positive or negative, on the new policy? We’d love to hear them. You can send a letter to the editor, or just send your comments, to alison.james@fct.wpengine.com. 

Also on Franklin County Times
$4M paving project nears completion
Main, News, Russellville, ...
Russ Corey For the FCT 
October 1, 2025
RUSSELLVILLE — The city is in the process of completing what is likely its largest ever street paving project. District 1 City Councilman David Palmer...
Barnes kicks off bid for Congress
Main, News
Russ Corey For the FCT 
October 1, 2025
SHEFFIELD — Colbert County Commissioner Tommy Barnes is ready to travel the Fourth Congressional District in hopes of convincing voters he’s the perso...
Cancer survivor Vaughn: Celebrate every day!
Main, News, Z - News Main
María Camp maria.camp@franklincountytimes.com 
October 1, 2025
Elaine Vaughn’s breast cancer journey began 11 years ago. Her longtime OB-GYN had retired, so she had put off her yearly exam and mammogram for a coup...
Mansell rescinds retirement request
Main, News, Russellville
María Camp maria.camp@franklincountytimes.com 
October 1, 2025
RUSSELLVILLE — Fire Chief Joe Mansell will remain at the helm of the Russellville Fire Department. Mansell, who has led the department since 2002, was...
Study links well-being of teachers with AI use
Columnists, Opinion
October 1, 2025
As a new school year begins, the attention of parents, policymakers, and the public rightly turns to students. But if we are serious about improving s...
Hubbard reflects as she retires from courthouse
News, Red Bay
María Camp maria.camp@franklincountytimes.com 
October 1, 2025
RED BAY — Lifelong Red Bay resident Sherri Hubbard has spent the past 24 years serving Franklin County as a courthouse deputy. Before joining the cour...
Holt named the acting director of NACOLG
News
Russ Corey For the FCT 
October 1, 2025
MUSCLE SHOALS — Transportation Planning Director Joseph Holt has been named the acting director of the Northwest Alabama Council of Local Governments....

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *